Seal for stern bearings for propeller shafts



Nov. 4, 1930. 1,780,304

SEAL FOR STERN BEARINGS FOR PROPELLER SHAFTS c. E. WARD Filed Sept. 14, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 4, 1936. c. E. WARD v 780,804

SEAL FOR STERN BEARINGS FOR PROPELLOR SHAFTS Filed Sept. 14, 192? 2 $h t 'Shee.t 2'

Patented Nov- 4, 1930 7 Q VUNITEDVSTATES P TENT OFFICE g CHARLES E. WARD, or onennnsron, wns'r VIRGINIA SEAL ron srnnnBnAaInesron PROPELLER SHAF'IS Application filed September 14, 1927.. Serial in). 219,516.

This invention relates to a seal for stern stern rising toward the top ofthe boat to form bearings for propeller shafts and has for its the inclined portion 2 of said bottom. This object to provide a seal which will be simple inclined bottom extendsupwardly and then in construction and more efficientinopera inclines downwardlyas indicated in said fig- 5 tion than those heretofore proposed. -ure to form the tunnelB' in which the'prono With these and other objects in view'the peller is adapted to rotate. Between the invention consists in'the novel details of contunnels, which are only su'fficientlyjlarge to struction and arrangements of parts which accommodate a propeller, the boat isprovidwill be more fully hereinafter disclosed-and ed with'a subsidiary bottom 5 substantially M particularly pointed out in the claims. parallel with themain bottom ofthe'boat, and

Referring to the accompanying drawings in Fig; 2 it will be see'n' that each tunnel is forming a part of this specification in which arcuately formed in a transverse plane. i like numerals designate like parts in all the The main propeller'shaft indicatedv at 6 views: I extends through a stuffing boX generally indi- 15 Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional View cated at 7 which is associatedwith the stern 6 5 taken longitudinally of a boat adjacent a tube casting 8 made rigidwi'th the inclined propeller h ft; n I bottom2of the vessel, and said shaft 6 ex- Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional viewtaken tends out'of the vessel through a sleeve pipe as on the line 22 of Fig. 1,and lookingin the 9 welded or otherwise secured as at 10flto direction of the arrows; and provide a leak-proof'joint withvthe inclined Fig. v3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional bottom 2. Thissleeve pipe extends rearwardview through the stern tube and strut bear- 'lyto the strut casting generally indicated by ing taken as on the line 3-3 of Fig. Qand the numeral lQ whichh'as integrally formed l looking in the direction of the arrows. 't-herewith'the r'adial'arms Band 14 to space I 25 This invention while applicable to boats in the strut casting within the tunnelv 3," all as general, is more particularly adaptedfor use will bejreadily understood. "The arms 13 with shallow draft vessels of the tunnel or and 14 are made'hollow throughout their chambered type, having a screw or propeller length and'are' joined to the tunnel in such. in each tunnel. With shallow draft vessels manner as to provide a leak proof joint.

'30 there has been a high degree of repair .and Further, the jointbetween the sleeve pipe 9 replacement made necessary due" to the fact and-[the strut'casting 12 'isfweld'ed or other that the propellers have so churned the water wise jformedias' at to niakei the saineleak of the shallow rivers on which the boatsnaviproof. I r Y gate, that the sand and other hard fine par- The propeller shaftfi extends through the; 1 ticles of matter on the bottom of the river and strut casting and'has a sleeve 20' the'reabout, S5 in suspension in the water have reached and one end of which extends slightlywithin the entered the strut bearings for the propellers, stern endof the slee'vepipe9bu't not in, corn] become lodged therein and consequently tact therewith; In other words, t-heshaft caused a grinding or'wearing away of said sleeve 20 is pressed tightly onto said shaft, bearings. Numerous sealing devices and con or if preferredthe shaft may be provided structions for preventing this damaging acwith an enlarged port-ion of the same shape tion have been heretofore proposed but, in so and size as the sleeve 20, the purpose being far as is at present known, none have been to'preventtheshaft proper from becoming efficient. By this invention the'bearings are unduly worn in the strut casting bearing.- eifectually kept free of abrasive and other The sleeve 20 areas inthefstrut'bearing foreign matter. I sleeve shell 22,.the usual Babbitt material In the drawings 1 indicates a vessel of the 23 being interposed therebetween, but the shallow draft type provided with a main botbearing sleeve shell 22 is held in spaced rela tom extending along the major portion of its tion, with reference to the strut casting 12 length, said main bottom as it approaches the by inwardly extending flanges, such "as'24 CAD as the bearing sleeve shell 22. {Between the and at the stern thereof,'the latter having rigidly associated therewith a: plurality of i I studs 26 arranged circularly thereof and e2 tending outwardly therefrom to Which may lee-secured the strut packin'gplate 27 as well flangesf24ljand25, the hollow casting 112 is provided with a plurality of annular ribs.

28which are drilled as at 29 to provideipas sages between the'cornpartments formed on v r 1 either side ofsaid ribs for a purpose present} ,fly to be disclosed. All'of the ribs' as well as the stern flange are adapted tosupport the bearing sleeve shell 22-which isapro vided Y at its stern end with an outwardly extending flange 30, which in'turn is provided with a pluralitycf holes through Which .Willpass the studsf 26. The strut packing plate 27 is similarly :aperturedito receive the samestuds,

the surfaces between the packing platefiandi the flange 3O as well, as thesur'facesbetween joint. The plate27, with the -flaiigej30 of i the 'bearing sleeveshell 22-jt'herebetween, is V secured to the 'castingf'12j by nuts '32 which may in turn be locked in'any' suitable manner asby pins 38'to the studs'26.

"i I shell 22 at the sternend, aswell i'heimter' I circularsurface of theflangei SO'thereOf is;- proyided with one or'more cir'cumferent ially extendinggrooves and '36jrespectively, and

thebo'ss portion 38 of the strut packing plate 27likewi'selia's itsinner'and outer circular surfacesprovlde'd'wlth"s milar 'c rcumferentially' extending grooves39 andf40,-respec-.

ti'vely "of which there 11 are 'a' plurality. In

1 pmcticegit'has been found advantageous to niake the internal diameter "of the "maj or portionof the circular 'b0s$;38 slightly greater than the external diameter, of the shaft V si' e eao', but to, havefsaid sleeve somewhat snugly fi ttedbyth'e packing plate 27 between theflatgside' thereof anditheifirst circmhfer- The stern, end ofthe propeller shaftfti provided withthe usual taper toislidingly ,fitfthe'propeller hub 46. The'forward face47 of said hub is flat and has extending therefrom afplurality of circularly disposed studs'l48 to receive the hubpacking plate 50 suitably apertured to receivesaidstuds and held to said hub as by the nuts 5 1-which may belo'ckedor otherwise made 'secureas-cby pins '52. Thehub packingpl'ate has forward- 1y extending ,thereoff a plurality of concen- 'tric ribs orflanges, the innermost 53 adapted. to overlie the propeller shaftf6 and extendingitoward but not quitereaching the shaft sleeve-2 0. Theflange 53s as will be readily seen from attends into the space formed between the shaft and the inner surface of the boss 38 of the strut packing,

- plate 27. The hub packing plate is also pro-v 'vided with'another circular flange 54 extend ing into the space between the outer surface of'said boss 38 and thecircular row of nuts p 32 holding the'strutpacking plate to the strutcas'ting. .Lastly,there is provided a p v third circular flange 55 which is adapted to form an outer protective casingabout the BX-V treine peripheries ofithe strut packing'plate 27 and the flange 30 of the bearing sleeve 'sjhell'22, said-flange 55 'extending substan tially to the strut casting 12," all 'as clearly I indi'catedinFig; 3,-

At suitablev inter als there-are provided radial bores such as extending through the babbitted bearing sleeve shell to connect the 7 p outer surface of the propeller shaft sleeve 20 withtl e ciroularchamberssuch as 61in the -1" I strut casting, andat least oneofjthese chai'np I p 'be rs is in o'pencomniunication with the holthe flanges 30 and 25being suitably machined,

7 or' fitted' with soft gaskets' as found; necessariy or convenient,"to 'makea water tight low interior suchfas 62 of the fradial' 'striit s pacingarm'13, see Fig, 2. Thus it will be 9o seen that there is" provided open communicatlon betweenthe interior offthe arm 13 and I -v 35,39; 40vand 36. "The inner surface-of the bea-rlng sleeve The lubrication of the strut bearing propel er haft" is accomplished preferably with grease which isslowly but continuously forced under ressure throu 'ha conduit 70 to and 'intoone of the strut supporting arm's such as 13. {The grease'w'ill be f rearms the chamber 62 thereof into the. strut casting v chamber .61, thence through the openings '29 into the "other chambers of; the; casting 7 1 2; if and thence through-the "passages. ,(io l'to "the outer surface of 'thepropeller shaft sleeve 20;

The greasefiwill then passalong'said surface, 2

reaching in one direction "the space 71'" be 1 tween the propeller shaft-and the pipe sleeve 9 filling. the sal ne andsaid grease will fen-1 tend in the oppositedijrectmn to enter" and fill' the circumferentialgrooves 35 between the shaft sleeve'20 and the bearing sleeveshell 22; There will bea-slowing downof the-flow I V V of grease at this point due to the joint-42,but 7 the grease being under pressure and the joint 42 not being tight,the gre'ase'willpass'said joint; enterthe grooves 3Qand'the spaces asses: ciated therewith, pass around the end of the boss 38 and enter the grooves 40 on the other side thereof, pass around the end of the flange 54 and completely fill the space between said flange and the outer flange 55', and enter the circumferentialgroove 36in the outer end of the flange 30 of the bearing sleeve shell 22, after which the grease is free to escape to the water past the end of the flange55 ofthe hub V I packing plate 50. It-is tobe understood that all of the spaces justenumeratedare filled with grease before the essel'gisiactually put into service so that no abrasive material such as sand or the like will be in any of said spaces before the grease 18 caused to flow. through the strutbearing. In this connection it.

should be stated that the pipe sleeve 9 is alse entirely filled with grease which may be fedmission of any abrasive material such as sand which would have the tendencyto grind out the shaft and strut bearings. In other words, this invention covers a stern bearing for a propeller shaft having in combination with said shaft a strut casting, a pluality of intercommunicating chambers '61 and 62 in the casting, the chambers61 being formed by the annular ribs 28 having apertures there- .through to further aid said inter'communication between the chambers, a bearing sleeve 22 for the shaftprovided with passages leading from the chamber 61 to the shaft, said passages'being radially formed through the sleeve and said sleeve provided with the angular projection 30 having grooves or passages and 36 circumferentially of said.

sleeve on the inner and outer surfaces thereof.

, Also there is provided a. packing plate 27 for theconcentric flanges or ribs 53, 54 and 55 of the hub packing plate whereby foreign material having abrasive action is prevented from entering the bearing and wearing the same away through their grinding action. There is a coaction between the hub packing plate and the strut packing plate 27 due to the fact that the former is rigidly associated with the hub 46 which revolves with the propeller shaft, whereas, on the other hand, the strut packing plate 27 is secured to the strut casting 12 which is in turn secured to thehull of the vessel and therefore is stationary. The lubricant, grease, entering and lying within the grooves 35, 36, 39 and 4:0,and the channels or passages formed between the Table that said may vary the details'of: construction as well as the arrangements of parts Without: depart- 1ng from the spirit of the '1nvent1on, and

' flanges 53, 54 and 55 ofthe hub packing plate will thus always have a moving. surface In contact therewith which will cause the grease or other lubricant to be moved in a circumferential plane passing transversely through the;-

propeller shaft, andfthis coupled with the fact that the lubricant isunder continuous forced feed, as well as the tortuous path through which said lubricant moves laterally of the hearing or is moving from one of the charm bers 61 of'the strut casting 12 tothe outlet at the end of the flange '55 of the hub packing plate, will causea two-fold movement of said "lubricant whereby there is produced a washing out of any particles that could by chance --enter through said outlet. Should some particles so enter, they would. lodge first within the groove, passage, or reservoir 36, and pass ing this they would lie withinthe space between the flanges 5 1 and Y55 constitutingana otherv reservoir-in the' hub packingv plate. It

might barely be possible-buthighly improbpa-rticles'would continue to go beyond this passage but should they do so they a would collect in the passages 4c0l 'of'the strut packing plate 27. The passages'or grooves 39 and 35 are added by way of extreme caution. r

It is obvious that those skilled in the art therefore it is not, desired tov belimited to the foregoing disclosure, except as may be required by the claims. i

lVhat is claimedisz- 1. .In a stern support for a propeller shaft in combination with saidshaft a sleeve th'erefor; a packing-plate providedwith a circular boss in prolongation of said sleeve; a strut casting encasing said sleeve. and to which said plate and sleeve are secured; a hubtfor said shaft provided with a packing plate having on. oneface thereof 'a"channel.telescop ing said boss; and lubricant filled corrugations on'said boss as well ason saidlsleeve.

2. In a stern" supportfor a propeller shaft in combination with said shaft a fixed sleeve with and provided with a circular boss extending around said shaft said boss having a plurality of open corrugations to receive and retain lubricant; and a hub for said shaft provided with a packing plate having on one Iiace thereof a channel closely confining said oss.

3. In a stern support for a propeller shaft in combination with said shaft a sleeve therefor provided with lubricant filled corrugations on its shaft side; a packing plate concentric with said shaft and provided with a fiangecoextensive with said sleeve, the opposite faces of said flange having parallelly disposed lubricant filled grooves; a strut casting constituting a lubricant reservoir, said casting..encasingSaid sleeves and supporting said plate; and a hub for'saidshaft provided.

With'a-packing. plate provided with a channel into which said flange extends;

14,1' Ina stern: support for a propeller shaft in "con'ibination'vvith said shaft asl'eeve there I J for provided with lubricant filled corruga-V tionsfon its shaft side" and further provided and-its groovei-L' 1 V v e V v -5'..- Ina 'bearingffor asha ft provided with" ajhub the combination of a'h'ubpacking plate" -c 'prolvidedwith a'chann'el on oneffacef thereof ;-.i

a sleeve ion the shaft: and provided with a with-an angular extension having in its eX-= tizeniitya lubricant filled groove a packing I .p1ate. concentric,witl1 said shaft an'd provided 1 with'a'flangje coextensive with said-sleeve, the I I -opposite faces of said flange-havingparallelv I 1y disposed lubricantfilled groovesg'astrut f casting constituting a "lubricant reservoir, said casting encasing sald sleeve and: sup- 7 r porting said plate through said extension; and ahub for said shaft'provided with a packing plate provided'with plural channels into one ofwhich'said flange extends and the other of which closely confines saidextension flange-at one endithereof; secon'd'packing v plate secured to said flange and provided with a bossencircling the shaft, said boss disposed within; said channel and lubricant retaining corrugations on said boss.

7 Ina bearing'for a shaft provided with a huh the combination ofa hub packing'plate i provided with aninnerand an outer channel on one face thereof; a sleeve on the shaft and v provided'witha flange atone end thereofsaid Y flan 'e. extendin into the outer channel and s h 1 .vprovidedwith a-lubrlcant retaining groove cooperating with one side of said channel to establish a bearing seal; a second packing plate secured to said flange and provided with V V a boss encirc1ing :tl1e shaft, said boss disposed p 7 withinand closely confined by thevsides of the inner'channel; and lubricant retaining corrugations on saidbossJ 'In:1te'stimony whereof I ailix mysignature. 

